New Roadmap Outlines Strategy to Advance Development and Implementation of Thermal Manufacturing Technologies in the Next Five Years
By egallagher October 1, 2015
Cross-industry Consortium Leads the Way to Advanced Thermal Manufacturing
Worcester, Mass. and Materials Park, OH (September 22, 2015) – A new roadmap released Tuesday outlines a near-term strategy for the accelerated development and implementation of advanced technologies across the many industries that rely on thermal manufacturing, which collectively employ more than 5.4 million people and generate almost $3 trillion in economic activity. By providing specific actions for a more coordinated cross-sector approach to advanced thermal manufacturing in the next five years, this roadmap aims to enable the more than 100,000 businesses involved in and impacted by thermal manufacturing—97 percent of which are small and medium-sized companies—to improve the efficiency of their operations as well as the performance of the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole.
Developed by the Thermal Manufacturing Industries Advanced Technology Consortium (TMI ATC) initiative under the leadership of ASM International and through funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) program, Advancing Thermal Manufacturing: A Technology Roadmap to 2020 identifies common barriers that currently constrain the use of advanced technologies in thermal manufacturing—including limitations of current technologies and processes as well as widespread non-technical issues related to workforce development and training.
“We were very pleased to be able to bring together different constituencies to develop this first roadmap in the thermal manufacturing area”, said Terry Mosier, Managing Director of ASM International.
To address these common barriers, the roadmap offers a two-fold strategy that combines focused technology development with activities designed to stimulate and support technology implementation. The roadmap identifies 50 activities and seven detailed action plans to accelerate the development, adaptation, and implementation of advanced technologies throughout the thermal manufacturing community in the next five years.
- The technology development activities identified in the roadmap aim to enhance the development and adaptation of heating methods and materials for thermal manufacturing equipment and products as well as improve the understanding, prediction, monitoring, and control of thermal manufacturing processes.
- The technology implementation activities identified in the roadmap focus on stimulating the widespread acceptance and adoption of advanced technologies throughout the thermal manufacturing community to ensure that even small and medium-sized companies with limited resources can effectively implement these technologies in their operations.
Implementation of this roadmap’s critical actions and priority action plans will be led by the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in conjunction with ASM International. Together, these organizations will engage their diverse membership bases—including members from academia, national laboratories, and industry—to catalyze action in this nationally critical area.
“The increased development and implementation of advanced technologies can ultimately better position the U.S. thermal manufacturing in the global economy,” said Diran Apelian, Director of the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “This roadmap provides a compelling path forward that should be of interest to all stakeholders.”
About TMI ATC
With support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) program, the Thermal Manufacturing Industries Advanced Technology Consortium (TMI ATC) initiative crafted a roadmap to develop and implement advanced manufacturing technologies across the broad thermal manufacturing community that aims to significantly increase sustainability and U.S. global competitiveness. For more information or to get involved in the implementation of the roadmap activities, visit tmiatc.org.
About ASM International
ASM International is the world’s largest association of metals-centric materials scientists and engineers with over 30,000 members worldwide. ASM is dedicated to informing, educating and connecting the materials community to solve problems and stimulate innovation around the world. For more information, visit www.asminternational.org.
About MPI
The Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a leading industry-university alliance dedicated to advancing the field of materials science. Through research in the areas of metal casting, heat treating, and resource recovery and recycling, MPI has earned awards, recognition, breakthrough patents, and industry accolades.Working together, industry leaders and university researchers solve business challenges and improve manufacturing processes that save energy, reduce cycle time, increase productivity, and eliminate environmental waste. For more information, visit https://wp.wpi.edu/mpi/.
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